Ian Dyson

Name: Ian Dyson
Was: Finance director for Marks & Spencer
Now: Various non-executive directorships
Number of years in grocery: Five

Career background: Dyson spent his early career at accounting firm Arthur Andersen where he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1986 and was promoted to a partner in 1994. He went on to hold finance roles at Le Meridien, Hilton Group and The Rank Group, before joining Marks & Spencer in June 2005 as finance director. In March 2008, he was promoted to group finance and operations director, taking on retail and HR alongside his existing responsibilities of finance, IT, logistics, property and store development. He left in 2010 to join pub group Punch Taverns as CEO.

What is he doing now? Following the demerger of Spirit in August 2011, Dyson was appointed CEO of Spirit Pub Company and made a non-exec for Punch Taverns. He stepped down from Spirit in 2011. As well as his non-exec role at Punch, he is also on the board of Betfair, and last month was appointed to the boards of Asos and Intercontinental Hotel Group.

At M&S: When Dyson left M&S, the then chairman Sir Stuart Rose praised him for his “significant contribution” to the retailer. He added: “His leadership of the team driving Project 2020, our investment in infrastructure, will stand the business in good stead in years to come.”

What’s next? Dyson is fast growing his portfolio of non-executive directorships and his two most recent appointments have been welcomed. Asos chairman Brian McBride said he would “bring a new perspective to an already experienced non-executive team”, while Intercontinental Hotels Group chairman Patrick Cescau said: “His understanding of the hotel sector and his wealth of experience in senior executive and finance roles will be of great value to the group.”